Improvement in india-rubber mats for floors



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. MAYAIL, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN INDIA-RUBBER MATS FOR FLOORS, 84C.

Specification forming part .of Letters Patent No. 34,001, dated December M, 1861.

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MAYALL of Roxbury, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mats for Floors, dac.; and I do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact description of the same, wherein I have set -forth the nature and principles of my said improvements,.by which my'invention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent. ,/f

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

` -Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improved mat. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the saine. Fig. 3 shows the manner in which the mat'is molded.

The nature of my invention consists inso forming a mat,'in whole or in part of india.

rubber or gutta-pe'rcha, that it shall act upon the boot or slioe not only as a scraper, but as a brush, and in such a manner as to adapt itself to and fit into the inequalities or curved port-ions of the saine-fsuch as the shank, sides, incr-whereby every portion of the boot or shoe, as well as merely the sole, can be cleaned readily. I am aware that a mathas previously been made of india-rubber having cellular spaces formed by raised intersecting ribs or bars; but this atfords only a iatvand comparatively rigid surface and can act merely as a scraper to the sole of the boot or shoe, leaving the shank, sides, and other portions thereof untouched.

My improved mat is formed of a flat surface or base of india-rubber or gutta-percha, with vertical starts or projections independent of each other rising from and molded with or forming a part of the same. These projections or starts being at proper distances apart, possess a great degree of exibility and elasticity, and it into and adapt themselves to all portions of the boot. or shoe, serving very nearly the same purpose as bunches of bristles in a brush, though possessing the advantage of being more durable and cheapening the coet of the construction of the mat, and

4also from the peculiar properties of indiarubber or gutta-percha that of clinging to a considerable extent to the surface ato be cleansed.

In the mat with cellular spaces above re-l ferred to the foot can be placed only upon its surface. shoe can be partially embedded, as it were, between its projections or starts, which yield to themotion of the foot in' rubbing and reach nearly all portions of the boot or shoe.

Another important advantage of this my improved mat over `those heretofore constructed consists in the facility with which it is or may be cleaned after having been in use for some time. Mud and dirt accumulating in and upon the mat will be readily discharged by simply turning the mat upside down, and by bending it so that the under surface con,- stitutes the concavity, `while the upper surface the convexity. 'Bythusbending the mat it will be evident that the spaces between the individual starts will be considerably enlarged, thereby breaking up and loosening the mud or other matter that shall have been gathered. The mode of making the mat I will now describe. I make a composition of about the following proportions, viz: twelve pounds of 'rubber trimmings or clippings, or the same quantity of gutta-percha, and four pounds of sulphur, and inix them thoroughly together. The mat is formed by placing the composition in 'a metallic mold a a, Fig. 3, having suitable cavities or holes for forming the starts or projections c c, and subjectingit to pressure by a metallic platel; Z), which presses the soft rubber into the mold a a, and thereby imparts the desired form to the mat. The whole I is then subjected to heat while pressed in the mold.

The composition I have named and the'degrec of heat to be employed admit of great variations, and I therefore do not limit myself to the proportions named or to the degree of heat to be employed.

It will be evident that by varying the form of the mold oz a a .mat of any desired shapecircular, elliptical, rectilinear, or otherwisecan be made; and it will also be evident that the backing or base of the mat, instead of being formed wholly of rubber or gutta-percha composition, may be made partly or wholly of In 'my improved mat the boot or projections or starts of such form and rela tive arrangement that, while affording great facility for the cleaning of the mat, they shall act upon the boot or shoe not only as n scraper, lont also as a brush, and that they shalladapt themselves to and fit into the 'irregularities or cnrvedportions of the same, whereby every portion of the boot or shoe can be readily cleansed. Y

Ill-IOSm J. MAYALL.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH GAVETT, A. W BROWNu 

